Katara - A Mulan Story
by Sonja Schreiber
Summary: Katara, a young woman, takes her father's place in battle, disguising herself as a man. Based on the "Ballad of Mulan" and Jingle Ma's 2009 "Mulan".
1. Chapter 1: Intro

Katara: A Mulan Story

Author: Sonja Schreiber

Pairings: Katara/Zuko, others...I don't want to spoil anything ;)

Summary: Katara, a young woman, takes her father's place in battle, disguising herself as a man. Based on the "Ballad of Mulan" and Jingle Ma's 2009 "Mulan".

Note: This is 100% AU. This will not be a fluff piece. This is NOT based on Disney's Mulan. Be warned, there will be much gender bending. I _love_ all the strong women in A:TLA and LOK, however, for the sake of the plot of this story, unless I cut them out or made the off screen characters, I had to make them men. I hope you understand.

Disclaimer: I did not create the characters in "Avatar: The Last Airbender" or "Legend of Korra", nor did I develop the underlying plot of this story of "Mulan". Those credits got to Michael Dante DiMartino, Bryan Konietzko, and Jingle Ma.

* * *

><p>Chapter 1 - Intro<p>

Water. Earth. Fire. Air. Long ago, the four nations lived together in harmony. Then, everything changed when the nations began to intermarry and the borders between the four nations began to blur. As time passed, the world divided into many new countries, each with citizens and benders from all the former nations. Two of these new countries were Heping* and Xiongdi†

In the 20th year under their wise Emperor Roku, Heping was thriving, abounding in farms and craftsmen. Their neighbors to the north, Xiongdi, were not faring as well. Though they were rich in metals to craft weapons and tools, the harsh weather and barren, rocky terrain made food a scarce commodity. However, instead of bartering and trading the resources they did have, the leader of the largest tribe in Xiongdi, Lord Iroh, united the nation's tribes and sent these armies to pillage and plunder Heping every spring to prepare for the harsh winter.

Iroh had two children. The youngest was a daughter named Asami. She was kind and wise as she was beautiful, with fair skin, raven hair, and vibrant green eyes. His eldest, a firebender named Ozai, was tall and handsome, but ruthless and cruel.

Ozai, captain of his father's army, enjoyed a practice he called releasing his prisoners of war. The prisoners would be gathered into a large shallow pit, surrounded by Xiongdi benders and archers, and murdered like defenseless animals. His father disliked this practice, along with Ozai's eagerness to prolong the yearly pillages into a full on war. To Iroh, pillaging was an act of providing for his people, and to an extent, there was still honor in his warring. To Ozai, it was an act of power. Iroh wanted his people to live. Ozai wanted the world.

Under Ozai, Iroh's armies grew larger and stronger, and it soon became evident that Heping's army, as advanced and experienced as it was, could not defeat Xiongdi's sheer numbers.

* * *

><p>*Hépíng: Chinese for "peace"<p>

† Xiōngdì: Chinese for "brotherhood"


	2. Chapter 2: Forgive Me

Chapter 2 – Forgive Me

The air rung with the sound of swords clashing together. The taller of the two warriors, appeared to have the upper hand for a moment. His adversary had been knocked to the ground, in what was, in his opinion, quite an impressive move. His arrogance did not last long, as his opponent used the hilt of her sword to bash Sokka's shin, bringing him to his knees. Taken off guard by the pain, his sword was easily knocked from his hand. Next thing he knew he was straddled, an enemy sword was at his neck, and he was defeated.

A grin spread over Katata's face. "I told you I was a better fighter, even without bending." She sheathed her sword, stood up, and offered a hand to her friend. Sokka promptly refused, and continued to nurse his bruised shin and hiding his damaged ego.

"I said I could beat you, as long as you didn't fight dirty. You still lost the bet," he grumbled, glaring at her.

Katara ignored him, "Do you want to practice hand-to-hand?" she asked, eagerly, "I've been practicing my-"

"I think my grandson has had enough practice for today, Miss Katara," a kind and gravelly voice interrupted. Katara's smile broadened as she bowed respectfully to her approaching sifu. Sokka hopped up, brushing the defeat off his clothes.

"Master Piandao, I think Sokka needs a little more practice if he's going to be a soldier," She argued, "and I would be more than willing to help. I know that I'm just a girl, but-"

"_Just_ a girl?" Sokka scoffed, "Katara, you've been beating up neighborhood bullies since we were eight."

In spite of herself, Katara couldn't help a shy grin.

"And causing her father no end of trouble," Piandao added, chuckling under his breath, "A father who is going to be very angry with me if he finds out that I'm training his only daughter so late. Again. Go home, Katara. Leave my grandson with what little pride he has left. We can resume another day."

Begrudgingly, she put her practice sword away and trudged home.

Katara and Sokka had been training together for years. Sokka's grandfathers, water bending master Pakku and sword master Piandao, had been training the young men of the village in martial arts, water bending, and sword mastery for many years. As a little girl, she had often watched enviously as the boys practiced.

After a particularly good day of fighting, Sokka noticed Katara watching. Instead of running away or denying what she had done, she stood up on her tip toes so she could look at him straight in the eyes.

"You are a good fighter," she stated as a matter of fact.

Sokka was taken aback, but was flattered nonetheless.

"Teach me."

And, being the magnanimous boy that he was, he agreed. It was the only way she would agree to stop bending water all over him.

When they had been training a few months, Hahn and his gang of bullies started pushing Sokka around for sport. Katara, who could not abide bullies, came to her friend's aid. Together, they managed to fight off the bullies, sending them running. After this encounter, the two agreed to always be there for each other; they would be friends for life.

Master Pakku found out what they had done, and decided that if Katara was so determined to learn to fight, she should be taught properly. So, for the past ten years, Pakku and Piandao and been her private teachers.

Her father, Hakoda, knew about her training, and though he disapproved publicly of this practice, he had never tried too hard to stop it. He had been a cavalryman in Emperor Roku's army; fighting was in his blood. After the death of his wife, he raised his daughter the best he knew how. He had often told her stories of glorious battles and war strategies. It was unsurprising then that she lacked the refinement and grace that was expected of a young lady. As it was, though Hakoda was proud of his daughter's talent, he knew not many men would look fondly on her strength and independence.

Katara tried her best to sneak into her house and clean herself up before her father noticed where she had been. She did not want to remind him why she was late. It was not to be; a particularly creaky floorboard announced her presences to her father in the next room.

"Katara, come in here, please," he requested. He was at the table when she entered the kitchen. "Where have you been?" he asked, stifling coughs that had begun to grow more and more reoccurring.

She busied herself with making tea, and then prepared his medicine with methodical slowness, keeping her head down. His tone of voice told her that he knew very well where she had been, and there was no point in trying to deny it. She braced herself. "Training with Sokka," she said, finally turning to face him.

A rueful smile crossed his face. "Sweet-heart, I want you to stop fighting," he said, "If you were a boy, it would be different. You are very skilled, and I know that you would have made a great fighter. But, you are a woman, and it will be hard to find a husband for a woman so interested in combat, and I would like to see you married before," his coughing both interrupted and finished his thought. She knew his illness was the reason that he was finally putting his foot down after all these years. He was dying, and it was only a matter of time before she was on her own.

She straightened, finished his evening tray, and brought it over to him. "Don't be ridiculous," she admonished, "You are not going anywhere. Besides, women are becoming more independent every day. I have heard that on Kyoshi Island, all the warriors are women."

Hakoda grunted as Katara handed him the medicinal tea. "I don't want that one, I want that one," he pointed at the wine, his reward for drinking the offensive medicine. Being in no position to deny him, she handed him his wine, which he finished in one gulp. A look of revulsion clouded his face, followed by a look that said he was plainly impressed, "The old bait and switch tactic, I see. You put the medicine in my wine."

She tried to suppress a smile and failed. Katara knew that, in an irritable mood, he'd want to avoid his foul medicine.

"You taught me well, father." She said earnestly.

And, despite the tense beginning to their night, father and daughter enjoyed their evening together, talk of husbands forgotten.

* * *

><p>It wasn't soon after that Sokka's official orders came. Katara had known that he had enlisted, and that it had been inevitable, but it still came as a shock. After many congratulatory pats on the back and numerous tears from friends and family, he went off to war.<p>

Life went on, until one terrible Tuesday morning as few weeks later. Katara and Hakoda were visiting the market, like any other day. The village square was bustling with noisy shoppers bartering for the best price, old men comparing things to the way they used to be, and old women comparing old men to the way they used to be.

The friendly morning din was interrupted, however, by the rumbling of approaching horses. A troop of the Emperor's soldiers stunned the whole square into silence, and a general began addressing the crowd from the platform in the center of town.

Xiongdi's armies were growing stronger, and Heping's current army of enlisted men was not enough to defeat such an enemy. By royal decree, every family was to contribute to the war effort. Farmers were to supply food, blacksmiths supply weapons, and all other families were to send at least one male family member into battle. Each family was called by name, and each accepted the responsibility assigned them. When his name was called, Hakoda stepped forward proudly, taking his draft orders. Blinding anguish almost brought Katara to her knees.

That evening, she watched in silence as her father began preparing for his journey. He brought out his old armor and sword and methodically began to fix and polish each piece. He planned to leave the next morning, and she was wiser than to attempt persuade him otherwise. She knew it would be pointless; Hakoda's honor would not allow him to ignore the draft.

When it was time for his medicine, she found him in the back garden, absent-mindedly polishing his sword and gazing longingly at the starry sky. He didn't acknowledge her until she had been sitting next to him for quite some time.

"Arnook's nephew, Hahn, has agreed to marry you," he said, "his Yue has been dead a year, and he is seeking a new wife. I've left some money for you under my mattress that should keep you until the wedding and will work as a dowry."

Katara only nodded, knowing that if she spoke, the sobs would be unstoppable. She didn't want to marry Hahn, an arrogant brute, she didn't want to be alone, and she didn't want her father to die.

"You'll know when I'm gone when you see another star in the heavens," he said, looking to the sky, his sword forgotten in his lap. "Your mother has been there for quite some time. It will be nice to be near her again."

Fighting back her tears, Katara drank in the sight of her father. One way or another, she might never see him again. Taking a deep breath, she handed her father his nightly cup, "Drink your wine father, and go to bed. You have a long journey tomorrow."

Katara had known from the moment his name was called what she had to do. The Emperor wanted one fighter from every family, and her family was going to contribute a fighter, but it wouldn't be Hakoda. She knew he would be too distracted to notice the sleeping drug she had added to his tea, and in the morning he would not hear her leave. _Forgive me father,_ she pleaded silently, _for everything._


End file.
